


Epsilon haven

by Words_of_mine



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Abuse, Alpha Victor, Alpha Victor Nikiforov, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Animal Instincts, Animal Traits, Basically they're animals, Beta Yuri Plisetsky, Bonding, Bottom Katsuki Yuuri, Breeding, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Eventual Smut, Gun Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Insecurity, Kidnapping, Masturbation, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Minor Character Death, Mpreg, Multi, Mutual Pining, Nesting, Nudity, Omega Katsuki Yuuri, Omega Verse, Omegaverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pack Dynamics, Pining Victor Nikiforov, Possessive Victor Nikiforov, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rutting, Scenting, Scents & Smells, Swearing, Top Victor Nikiforov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-01-15 21:08:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12328920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Words_of_mine/pseuds/Words_of_mine
Summary: 'Viktor was about to pounce on an unuspecting mouse when he heard the familiar whistle from his left. Whistle ment humans and humans ment treats ! Also petting. Petting was good. Especially behind his cat-like ears. The young alpha ran fast using his agile legs and arms and balancing himself with his tail, once again cat-like. (How primates got ears and tails looking like the ones of felines still baffled the scientific community.) When reaching the plain, he saw the usual green human surrounded by many small ones and a female, all watching him in awe. He was used to this, he knew he only had to show up for the humans to be happy.'---Viktor had always lived in the safe environment of the sanctuary, loved and cared for but plagued by loneliness and the weight of expectations. Yuuri was dragged into a living hell and came back with more than a few scars. Will they be able to overcome the struggles that await them in a world ruled by instincts and the laws of nature ?





	1. The Epsilon Wildlife Preservation Center

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys ! This is my first ever fanfiction, so I'm a bit nervous ! I really like the A/B/O dynamics in the omegaverse because I enjoy exploring the themes of instincts vs self-control. By setting the story into the animal world, I allowed myself to get rid of most social norms in the human world and explore them at a different angle. I hope you enjoy !

 

Saverio yawned as silently as he could while the children settled in their seats and the teacher counted all 28 of them, once again. He loved his job. Unconsciously, he ran his thumb on the edge of the tag pinned to the front of his shirt that read :

 

_Saverio HELDER_

_Officially certified Felis keeper and ranger_

_Epsilon Wildlife Preservation centre_

 

The teacher was reminding her students to keep quiet and pay attention and Saverio sighed. He had worked really hard to earn this tag and the green uniform it was pinned on. Years of studies and exams, practice and observation. And he loved his job. He really did. Just... not that movie. Anything but that movie. Saverio felt like banging his head on the wall as the room darkened and the first notes of the introduction music rang in his ears for what must have been the millionth time.

 

«  _Thousands of years ago, in a time before humans dominated the Earth, felises were one of the most populous species in the world. Researchers have found traces of their presence on all continents dating back as far as 50 000 BC... »_ Saverio ran the commentator's speech in his head as the film progressed. « ... _But as humans evolved progressively and slowly populated more and more of the planet, they retreated into more secluded areas and each group continued to evolve according to its location, leading to physical differences akin to those we know between us. However, they are still all the same species... »_ He had no problem with children. There were many schools that organized day trips to the Epsilon centre every year and over time he found ways to keep them interested throughout the visit. «  _...Felises were first mentioned in Ancient Rome as 'feli-simia' meaning cat-monkey, and were referred to as a sort of mythological creature..._ »

 

Actually, they had a lot of visitors, and not just children. The Epsilon Wildlife Preservation Organization, that everyone called the Epsilon Group because EWPO didn't sound great, was renowned worldwide and this was their biggest centre. They kept animals from many endangered species that would arrive from other centres and zoos, or that had been saved from trafficking and abuse. Those that could be released were reintroduced in a safer environment, the others were kept safe or sent in other centres to raise awareness to their specie's disappearance. And, of course, the organization also financed hundreds of different projects worldwide, but Saverio didn't know much about them.

 

No, his speciality was the greatest pride of this centre : the felises. «  _… and this destruction of their natural habitat led to a drastic reduction in their numbers due to their need of space and great sensitivity to stress. Those who survived were often captured and put in cages due to their rarity. Their undeniable resemblance to humans led to many being mistreated.._. » _Mistreated._ Saverio nearly snorted the first time he saw the film. _Mistreated_ was a euphemism, a code word for 'used as living sex toys and treated worse than dogs in a trafficking market by sick people because of some stupid ancient rumour that they granted health and wealth to their “master” '. Yeah, he could get a bit passionate about this. The omegas suffered the most though, but this was a kid version of the film so it did not delve too much into alphas, betas and omegas apart from saying that basically, alphas led the groups and the others followed. Going beyond that meant explaining heats and ruts and the complex nuances between the three dynamics.

 

Checking his watch, Saverio sighed again. Only a few minutes left. He knew this explanation film was important at the beginning of the visit, so that people understood a bit more of this still unfamiliar species, be he always looked forward to showing the actual living felises in the sanctuary much more. «  _The Epsilon Foundation has helped save this extremely fragile species..._  » Ah yes, nothing like a good old self pat on the back ! «  _…Remember that they are particularly sensitive animals. Please do not run or shout in the sanctuary and remain on the visitor zone at all time. A ranger will accompany you to answer any of your questions._  » The film finally ended and Saverio led the excited group to continue their visit.

 

“Wow, that's huge !”

“Are they in there ?”

“They're hiding ?”

“They're scared of you !”

“Are we gonna see Viktor ?”

 

The children were looking expectantly through the security glass at the vast reserve in front of them. Felises were gregarious creatures with a very structured social order which required a large territory. The visitor zone faced a green plain closed by a forest at the back and on the right while large grey rocks blocked the view to the left to a rougher terrain only suggesting the entry to multiple caverns and holes. Unlike other primates, felises preferred to find refuge underground or between rocks rather than in trees. Saverio knew that many were probably hidden just behind those rocks but they were not all very sociable and trusting of humans, especially noisy agitated unknown children.

 

The ranger explained that they had to be patient and that maybe a few felises would come out to drink in the stream that came out from between the rocks and ran through the plain to a little clear pond before disappearing into the forest where it joined a larger river, away from curious eyes. Most of the sanctuary was a huge park of about two thousand square kilometres that had been artificially created and was surrounded by high walls and barbed wire and full of security cameras. Many of the holes in the rocks actually led to indoor stalls, and while the felises did hunt a few small animals or ate some of the plants in the park, most of their food, from fruits to meat and fish, was brought in and left in various places of their territory for them to find.

 

After twenty minutes of waiting, the children no longer had any questions and even their teacher was getting bored. Nothing was moving, clearly all the felises that usually nested in the nearby area were either asleep or simply not in the mood. Refusing defeat, Saverio decided to use his public-satisfaction emergency plan. He pulled a silver whistle from his pocket and blew in it two times. The high-pitched sound echoed throughout the sanctuary.

 

* * *

 

Viktor was about to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse when he heard the familiar whistle from his left. Whistle meant humans and humans meant treats ! Also petting. Petting was good. Especially behind his cat-like ears. The young alpha ran fast using his agile legs and arms and balancing himself with his tail, once again cat-like. (How primates got ears and tails looking like the ones of felines still baffled the scientific community.) When reaching the plain, he saw the usual green human surrounded by many small ones and a female, all watching him in awe. He was used to this, he knew he only had to show up for the humans to be happy.

 

Green Human came in to see him as Viktor greeted him with his usual friendly sound. He was used to this human's presence and smell. Makka wasn't here today. Yakov insisted on calling it Dog, but Viktor knew the humans had a special word for it because Viktor was smart. He knew the green humans would come from the other side of the invisible barrier and they sometimes brought food with them. At other times they brought stinging sticks and weird tasting food but that was only when the blue human that didn't smell of anything was there. A healer, Yakov had said, but Viktor wasn't sure. He didn't like the stinging stick. He trusted Green Human however, and let him guide him closer to the invisible barrier separating them from the youngs. Green Human must have a lot of pups, and many different mates because he was never accompanied twice by the same group. Humans are weird, thought Viktor, as Green Human pet his ears.

 

* * *

 

Saverio was relieved when he saw Viktor emerge from the forest. He was one of the most sociable felises of the sanctuary and nearly always came when he heard the whistle. His trusting personality and unusual silver fur colour on his ears and tail made him a fan favourite and he was used as the centre's mascot. They sold quite a lot of merchandise of him which helped raise funds for the protection of the felises and the sanctuary. There was a running joke among the park's rangers that Viktor could save his species with a photo-shoot and that he knew it. He could be a bit of a diva sometimes.

 

But mostly, his trusting behaviour came from a lifetime spent within the safe walls of the sanctuary, adopted by the leading alpha couple of the group when his recently rescued mother unfortunately died after giving birth to him. He had been trained from a very young age to view his keepers as something positive, devoid of any threat and he even recognised a few words or sentences. The only person he was wary of, really, was the vet.

 

Once the first contact had been made, other felises slowly came out, led by their curious nature. They didn't get too close, though - except Chris. Chris always got too close - since the children were very excited at the sight of the animals and some of them were screaming and giggling because yes, they are naked, they're wild creatures what did you expect ? Saverio was used to this reaction but still rolled his eyes. Even Yakov, the leading alpha of the group, made a short appearance, probably to see what all this ruckus was about. But of course, none of the pups were to be seen. They would be kept safe and warm in their parents' nest until the beginning of spring, in about five months. He'd have to check on them later tonight. But for the moment, he led the class to the next building to see the other species kept in the Epsilon centre.

 

* * *

 

It was late in the evening when Saverio finally finished his day. After the group of children had left, he had resumed his usual checks on the various felises he could find. Once every two weeks, he and his colleagues would make sure to check on all the members of the pack, going around the park with the centre's SUV, but the rest of the time they only kept an eye on the ones that nested in the indoor stalls or close to the sanctuary's entrance and relied on the security cameras in case of emergency.

 

Right now, the building was mostly empty but many felises would retreat here once winter had arrived. During the coldest days of the year, they went into a short period of hibernation when they would make a little food stack in their den and only come out a few times until the weather got warmer. They also did not enjoy the rain and would take shelter in the building which also housed a more open greenhouse-like area. But for now, there were only two nesting families : an alpha/omega couple sent from the Japanese Epsilon centre who had given birth to a litter of three young pups a while back, and another Japanese pup who had found a surrogate mother in one of the omega females of the sanctuary who had lost her own newborn pup.

 

Just as he got out of the centre, Saverio encountered his friend and colleague Adrian. They had been classmates in college and shared a common interest in the study of primates but while Saverio took care of the felises, Adrian was in charge of the gorillas.

 

“You're going home already ?” said Adrian

“Already ? It's almost eight !”

“I'm joking, relax ! You had a bunch of kids coming today, right ?”

“Yeah, from a primary school”, Saverio sighed

“Not your thing ?”

“Nah it's okay. I'm just tired. And you ?”

“Not much today. Pretty calm”, Adrian yawned, “I saw that new omega was sent back to the centre in Montreal, it didn't work out ?”

“Not really, no. They didn't fight or anything, but Viktor barely looked at her.”

 

The truth was, for the past four years, Saverio and the other rangers in charge of the felises had been trying to find Viktor a mate. As a healthy 27 years old alpha, who woud probaly become the next leader of the pack, he was included into the Felis Reproduction Program. This program was essential for the preservation of the species since felis birth rate was naturally extremely low. Couples had to be extremely compatible to be able to procreate, and they also had to have the right gender and secondary gender.

 

Besides male and female, which were their gender, felises were divided between alphas, betas and omegas. Alphas were more dominant and possessive, sometimes aggressive, a little bit bigger. Betas were the 'neutral' ones and most common, they often had a less heightened sense of smell. Omegas were the smallest and cutest ones, more submissive and caring, sometimes a bit manipulative. Betas were infertile and female alphas could get pregnant but the pup rarely survived so most pups could only be born from a male-alpha/male-or-female-omega pair. And if this wasn't enough, alphas and omegas were only fertile twice a year, during their ruts and heats respectively, which, when they didn't trigger each other, had to be timed together.

 

And so, twice a year for four years, around the time of his ruts, they had introduced a new omega in the pack in the hope that Viktor would take them as their mate, but in vain. He never seemed to be interested in them beyond them being a new addition to his pack. The omegas, however had seemed interested enough, but while the rangers joked at Viktor being a 'heartbreaker', the veterinarian had explained that the omegas had probably reacted to the pheromones alphas produced around the time of their ruts which were meant to entice surrounding omegas. He added that if the alpha was not attracted by the omega's scent however, there would be no mating. The stronger he attraction to another's scent, the more genetically compatible they were. Some individuals were just more picky than others. They had a completely different result with Chris for example, another alpha of the same age as Viktor who was also part of the reproduction program. During his rut he used to mate with any available omega, even if they weren't compatible, but he would not keep them as mate afterwards and it never resulted in any pregnancy. Moreover, in the past two years, he had started going through ruts on his own, barely acknowledging the omegas of the pack.

 

“Well, better luck next time !” said Adrian

“Yeah, I hope so. By the way, are you coming tomorrow ?” Saverio asked

“There's another raid ?”

“Yeah, they dismantled a human trafficking mafia group and they think they're also keeping felises somewhere. They're gonna be sending the special forces in there, but they want our help too.” the felis keeper explained.

“Oh, I didn't know. I'll have to see if I can be there. You'll be leaving at what ? Five a.m. ?”

“Yeah, around that.”

“Okay, I'll meet you here if I can come. But don't wait for me.” Adrian said

“Alright, I'll see you tomorrow maybe, then !”

“And if not, good luck !”

“Thanks !”

 

With that, both friends separated and went back to their own car to head home for the night, as blue eyes followed them until they turned each in a different direction.

 

* * *

 

Viktor came down from the tree he had climbed to observe the two humans on the other side of the big wall. He understood the word 'omega'. Like the one who was put back into one of the rolling cages that the humans called 'trut'.. or was it 'truck' ? Somehow, there was always a new omega when one of the unmated alpha of the pack went into rut. But Viktor wasn't interested in them, he didn't like their scent. So he spent only his ruts with them. He didn't like ruts. They hurt. The omegas were almost always taken out again a few days after. But he knew he would recognize his mate by their scent. They would be perfect and they would have the most delicious scent. He just knew. But no one in his pack had ever really attracted him. He had good friends, and he liked his pack, but he knew he had to wait to meet his mate.

 

The only time when he felt lonely was in winter. He was too old to hibernate with Yakov, Lilia and Yurio now. He had stayed with Chris, Mila and Georgi for his first winter without his family, but he didn't like spending too much time too close to Chris or Mila's scent. They were alphas and not family so their smell irritated him after a while. And Georgi was just whiny.

 

Viktor was pretty sure he also heard the word 'raid'. He didn't know what it was but he had heard it before. Sometimes, when he had heard it, there had been injured felises brought in the human building, and sometimes they would show up a few weeks later on their territory, not injured anymore, and become part of the pack. They said they came from the Dark Rooms. The Dark Rooms sounded very scary to Viktor. Celestino, an older beta, had been there too a long time ago. He had said that humans in the Dark Rooms were bad and they hurt and hit him and he starved and suffered. Viktor trusted him but he had a hard time understanding that. Humans didn't hurt.

 

Humans were good.

 

* * *

 

Humans were bad.

 

Danger.

 

Yuuri whimpered weakly in fear and exhaustion as yet another unknown human entered his cell and looked at him with sadistic, hungry eyes.


	2. Keep Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Saverio and Adrian were crouched in the morning cold at the entrance of the tall storage building, while the heavily equiped police forces went inside and gunshots started to be heard. '
> 
> After a long captivity, Yuuri has given up. Will the rescue team make it in time ?

Humans were bad.

Danger.

Yuuri whimpered weakly in fear and exhaustion as yet another unknown human entered his cell and looked at him with sadistic hungry eyes. He was used to it by now. He had been hurt and used in more ways that he would have imagined existed. He tried to move but even if he had had the strength to, the heavy chains around his wrists and ankles forbade him any relief.

 

“What a cute little kitten !” the human said with a lusted voice. “Here, let me see your face.” Yuuri didn't understand all the words the human spoke, but his tone told him what he wanted.

 

His face was lifted and, tired of fighting, he let his mouth fall open and tried to keep his sharp teeth from touching the nasty-smelling flesh that began to push in and out of him. How many were there today before this one ? How many since the start ? He didn't even know how long he had been in this dark cell. Four winters ? Five ? He didn't really remember what his life had been before.

 

Maybe he had fought at first, tried to resist. Maybe sometimes, a weak growl would escape his throat. But he knew after that only came the Punishment, and that hurt even more than the rest. And so, he'd given up. On resisting. On escaping. On doing anything other than what the humans demanded of him, which mainly consisted in opening his legs and being mated.

 

On fighting.

 

After a moment, the human left the felis's front and went to grab his rear. As his ass was being lifted, Yuuri dropped his head back on the floor. He was tired. And starving. But mainly tired. So tired. He barely felt the human entering him where many others had already dumped their seed. He couldn't really feel anything anymore, except cold, it was very cold. His vision was turning black and he was so, so tired...

 

The deafening sound of an explosion echoed throughout the long corridor bordering Yuuri's cell. Screams, gunshots and the smells of distress and blood kept him barely conscious enough to see one of his captors open the cell facing his and shoot three bullet in the other omega's skull before turning towards Yuuri's cell while a second man joined him.

 

The human that had had his dick inside the omega a few moments earlier tried to reach for his pocket but the two other men riddled him with bullets before he had the chance to take his own gun out and his corpse collapsed on the floor at Yuuri's feet. The first man started to aim at the omega's head when a series of gunshots from the other end of the corridor left the second one bleeding on the floor and forced him to flee, followed by many heavy running footsteps.

 

“Oi ! There's a few here !” is the only thing Yuuri heard before his world faded into darkness.

 

* * *

 

Saverio and Adrian were crouched in the morning cold at the entrance of the tall storage building, while the heavily equipped police forces went inside and gunshots started to be heard. Even after being in similar situation several times, it was still extremely intimidating for the two rangers. They were here in case felises were found inside the facility but, of course, they weren't allowed to get in until it had been cleared of any threat. They weren't the only ones here, there was a whole team from the Epsilon centre, with an emergency truck in case a felis needed urgent medical attention.

 

They suddenly heard a large explosion which startled them and a few moments later their radio came to life :

“Our units are chasing down the last guy.”, a woman's voice said, “The rest of the area is cleared. We found several felises in the basement but we're not sure they're alive.”

It wasn't rare that trafficking gangs like this killed all the animals they had before fleeing when they feared being caught.

 

The Epsilon team ran as fast as they could as they knew each second was precious. When they reached the basement however, a few of them had to close their eyes and take a deep breath. The scene looked like it was straight out of a horror movie. A dark corridor ran from one end of the building to the other, with small prison cells on both sides.

 

They first found five alphas, two males and three females, three betas, all females, and seven omegas, also females. They had all been shot in the head, probably only a few minutes ago. They also saw two men with one of the omegas, who had clearly been using her. Also shot in the head. But Saverio didn't find it in him to be sorry for them, as he reached the last cell, on the right. A bleeding man was being handcuffed by two policemen in front of it. Inside, another man laid in his own blood, unrecognisable, and next to him a male omega, chained to the floor. There was a white substance coming out from between his leg which Saverio didn't want to think about, but there wasn't a lot of blood on him.

 

“This one is still alive !” he shouted as he took the poor creature's pulse “But barely ! Hurry up !”

 

The rush of adrenaline made Saverio and the others act quickly, and soon enough the chains had been cut and the omega was being transported outside, to the medical truck. “Hang in there, buddy. Don't leave us now” the ranger thought as he entrusted his new protégé to the veterinarian. It had been too late for all the others, but if they could save at least this one. Just this one.

 

In the meantime he tried to comfort some of the other Epsilon employees who had never been faced with such violence and, even though they had been warned, were still in a state of shock. Saverio remembered the first time he helped during a raid. He still had nightmares because of it to this day.

 

A while later, a police officer came to tell them they had found papers about the felises and Saverio followed her to take a look.

“What about the man you were chasing ?” he asked.

“My colleagues are still trying to find him. Unfortunately it looks like he has escaped us for now. But don't worry, we have no doubt the investigation will allow us to arrest him quickly.” she answered mechanically without looking at him, “Here you go, please put on gloves when handling these papers, they could be precious evidence. You may take pictures if you want.” she added with the same uninterested tone as she left him in front of a gigantic pile of papers and files. He was tempted to not put the gloves on just to annoy her but he didn't want to be arrested as a suspect just for being petty.

 

He started going through the files in front of him, one by one. There were dozens of felises he hadn't seen in the basement, some kidnapped from sanctuaries, but most born with chains around their ankles. Saverio tried not to imagine what had happened, or was happening, to them. He still couldn't understand how people could hurt creatures as fascinating as these.

 

After twenty minutes, he finally found a file where he recognised the felis on the photo as one of the betas he had seen in the facility. Tessa, 17 years old, born in the black market. Some people just didn't have a heart. The ranger continued his search for a few minutes before he found the surviving male omega's file. Yuuri, 23 years old, taken from the Kyushuu Yutopia Felis centre five years ago.

 

* * *

 

It had been a warm summer night, following a perfect sunny day. An 18 year old Yuuri had slipped quietly out of the comfortable den he shared with his parents and older sister. He crossed the wood where the pack had hidden most of their nesting caverns, and climbed on the top of a rocky hill on the other side of the park.

 

It wasn't a very big territory but it was the only one he had ever known. He would often wonder what was beyond the tall fence. He settled on the highest rock and wrapped his raven-coloured tail around himself. He liked to come here alone during the night and look at the stars, it was his safe place when he needed calm and quiet.

 

He found peace gazing at those shining lights in the sky, he could lose himself in dreams of strong arms safely secured around him and a comforting, attracting scent enveloping him. Ever since he presented the year before, he found himself needing the presence of his family less and less – even though he still loved them dearly – and craving more and more the comfort of a mate of his own.

 

He had always known he was an omega, but instincts only kicked in after seventeen or eighteen winters when they presented. He hadn't been attracted to any of the unmated alphas of the small pack though. Some of them had tried to court him, and he would often feel guilty at being too picky. But he just didn't like their scent.

 

He rarely ever saw the green humans, but unmated members of the pack had sometimes been taken and others appeared. The oldest alpha said they had gone to find their mate. Once, they even took a mated pair. Neither Yuuko nor Takeshi were ever seen again. Yuuri was terrified by this.

 

But as much as he feared leaving his family and everything he knew, he couldn't help thinking maybe he could find a mate somewhere else too. His instincts were screaming at still being unmated. Especially during his heats, when his one-track mind would imagine a gorgeous, powerful alpha coming into his den, into his nest, and mating him.

Bonding him.

Breeding him...

 

Everything happened so fast.

 

Yuuri was losing himself in his fantasies again when suddenly, he heard a rustling sound in the bushes to his left. He perked his head up and was about to run when a sharp sound from these bushes was followed by a stinging pain in his leg. He fell from his high perched position roughly on the ground and let out a loud wail. His scent piked with fear and distress as he felt his limbs go progressively numb.

 

He screamed and called out to his pack, hoping he wasn't too far to be heard, as he saw three human-like figures come out of the dark and press another needle in his neck just below his scent gland. He wanted to bite and fight back but his body felt completely numb. His hazy mind recorded being transported towards a hole in the fence and the sound of his family calling for him before he lost consciousness.

 

* * *

 

“You found anything ?” Adrian's voice startled Saverio.

 

“Yeah, there's a file with info on that omega.”, he answered, handing the papers over to his friend, “And another one there. About one of the betas who's been... Well, anyway, how's he doing?”

 

“Not too good, he nearly didn't make it.”, the other ranger said, giving back the file after taking a look, “Kamil managed to stabilise him for now, but he wants to get back to the centre as fast as we can. Said he needs his full equipment.”

 

Kamil had been the Epsilon centre's veterinarian for four years now. He was a usually quiet and compassionate young man, but also very efficient and pragmatic and the keepers trusted him completely. They rushed back to where they had left the unconscious felis in the doctor's hands, only stopping once to notify the police of their departure.

 

“Anything helpful ?”, the veterinarian asked Saverio as their van hurried back to the centre, about two hours away.

“Not much. I got a file with a few infos but there's not a lot. He's called Yuuri, he's 23 and he's been missing for five years. Comes from Kyushuu, Japan.” Saverio sighed as he let Kamil take a look at the file.

“The cops let you take it ?”Adrian asked.

“Yeah, but just this one.” the other ranger answered, “I had to leave the file about the dead beta. The others probably had a file in there somewhere too. They said they might find fingerprints on the papers. Once they've analysed all of it, they'll see which ones have been reported missing by other sanctuaries and send us the files about the other ones in that basement.”

 

When missing felises were found dead, they were sent back to the centre where they had been stolen. The bodies of those that were not reported or had never been in a sanctuary were sent in the research department of the nearest centre. The rest of the files, of the many felises that hadn't been in the building that day, would hopefully help investigators track down the rest of the trafficking network, but that was out of any of the three men's line of work.

 

“How is he ?” Saverio inquired after a while

 

“Not good.”, the veterinarian answered, “I think he was really dying when you found him. I mean, his body was shutting off, he'd given up !”

 

“But he's gonna make it ?”

 

“All his signs are stable for the moment, but he's been badly hurt. I'm gonna keep him in observation until he wakes up and we'll see from here. I'm still not sure which after-effects there will be on his body, or on his behaviour. I've never seen a felis in this state, to be honest.” The young doctor took in a large breath before continuing. “He's malnourished and dehydrated, his right leg is broken, there are deep cuts on all his limbs, lashes and burns on his back and his reproductive system may never work normally again... He's got scars everywhere ! And you say he's been in their hands for five years ?! He's a fucking survivor !”

 

Both rangers were silent at the normally level-headed man's uproar, understanding and sharing his frustration and anger.

 

“You'll be safe soon little warrior”, Saverio thought as the van went through the centre's gates, once again followed by curious blue eyes.

 

“Don't stop fighting now.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note because I had this question in the comments : humans and felises cannot talk to each other. Humans can interpret a growl or a purr, and felises can learn to recognize sounds or words. A bit like a dog learning "sit" or "fetch". Except they're a lot smarter because their brains is more like a human one. Howerver, for story-telling purposes, I write the felises talking to each other like a conversation. But of course they are not "talking" like humans and cannot really communicate with them.
> 
> Same thing for the names. Humans names the animals an the felises can be trained to answer to this sound, but they have their own way of "naming" themselves. I'm just keeping the same names in both point of views for clarity's sake.
> 
> It's a bit confusing, I know, but I'll try to make it clearer as the story progresses.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading, and see you soon !


	3. A peaceful place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What better way to learn about the pack than through it's future leader's eyes ?

Viktor climbed back down from the tree from which he had seen the familiar “truck” come back from the “raid”. He was excited to know if there would be a new addition to their pack but he couldn't see or smell anything from there. So he decided to go back to the others. Most of the pack usually stayed close to where the humans came in, but hidden from the big transparent wall. That's where Yakov spent most of his time too.

 

When he was younger, Yakov had shown Viktor around the entire territory many, many times but now, the ageing leading alpha had left most of the physical tasks of his position to Viktor who took them on as the future leader of the pack. The older male only went around his lands a few times a year. And so, Viktor would often patrol around the sanctuary, keeping in touch with the felises that preferred to live isolated from the rest of the pack, and marking his territory by rubbing his wrists on trees or rocks.

 

All felises have a scent gland on the back of their neck from which they produce their own personal scent. These scents not only serve as a way to identify each individual but also to express emotions or to send a message to others as the glands would produce different pheromones slightly altering a felis's scent depending on the situation. In addition to that, omegas have one scent gland on each of their inner thighs which are mainly active during heat, and alphas have one on each wrist which are used to assert dominance.

 

Viktor finally reached the main nesting area of the territory. As expected, many members of the pack were enjoying the morning sun. Yakov was sprawled out on his favourite rock, a bit higher than the rest, usually to keep an eye on his pack, but presently he was napping and snoring loudly but no one dared say a thing. Waking up the old alpha from his nap was suicidal.

 

Back on the ground, Lilia was, once again, desperately trying to show Yurio which plants he could or couldn't eat, but the young male was hardly listening, trying to look as bored and annoyed as he could. Viktor chuckled at the sight. Since he would still be considered a pup until he presented in two or three years - which really frustrated him -, Yuri took every opportunity he had to provoke his adoptive parents. But the angry little kitten was too scared of Lilia's wrath to actually disobey her and run away from his lesson.

 

Minami, while a bit older than Yurio, wasn't as rebellious, and was letting Kanako groom his hair patiently. Like most omegas, who typically disliked change, he wasn't particularly looking forward to his presentation since he was afraid of leaving his mother's nest. A felis's secondary gender was known from birth but the instincts and scents specific to each gender wouldn't really kick in until presentation, around 18 years old.

 

Kanako was a usually joyful female omega whose mate and newborn pup had died many years ago – because of “ _flue_ ” and whoever _that_ was, Viktor would kill them if they ever threatened his pack again ! - and she had adopted Minami after he was found during one of those “raids”, still a newborn pup.

 

Other pups were also enjoying a bit of fresh air. Being still very young, Axel, Lutz and Loop didn't stray very far from their parents despite their curious nature. Yuuko and Takeshi had been a part of the pack for nearly six years now. The female omega and male alpha had arrived already bonded, from another pack far away. They had been taken from their pack by the green humans – which is why they were so weary of them - who put them on a giant floating truck called “ship” to go across a huge pond called “sea”.

 

Humans really did have weird names for everything.

 

Anyway, since they were already mated and were both calm and peaceful, they quickly found their place in the social hierarchy of the pack and had had a litter of three pups four years ago.

 

Viktor was very fond of the pack's pups, and felt very protective of them even though they were not his own. He often longed for a family of his own. Being a dominant alpha in his prime, his instincts naturally encouraged him to reproduce. But that meant finding a mate, and preferably an omega.

 

Georgi, on the other hand, thought he had found his perfect mate. The male beta was the same age as Victor and they would often play together as pups. But nowadays, his main occupation seemed to be following Anya wherever she went. Anya was a female omega, one of the most recent addition to the pack, arriving last year, coincidently just before Viktor's rut. Georgi had immediately started courting her.

 

Unlike the other omegas introduced recently, she had stayed but she wasn't very well liked among the pack. Isabella particularly hated her. After Viktor, and even Chris, openly rejected her, Anya had tried her luck with Jean-Jacques – that everyone called JJ - , another dominant male alpha, leading to a memorable fight between the two female omegas.

 

It was rare for two omegas to fight but when they did, it was scary. Very scary. Eventually, Anya had to retreat with her tail between her legs. Not that JJ would have left his mate anyway, he adored her and, despite being annoyingly loud and self-centred at times, he was loyal and relatively good-tempered.

 

And so, Anya and Georgi were often found together. But Viktor pitied him. It was clear she only tolerated him because he would do anything she asked. But based on the looks she still sent Viktor - in what she probably thought was a very seductive way -, she had no intention of staying with the beta and hadn't abandoned the idea of getting a dominant alpha, preferably the leading alpha of the pack.

 

After all, the leading alpha's mate had a very high position in the social hierarchy. He or she basically was the second-in-command. Then came the dominant alphas and their mate, usually by order of age or strength, followed by the weaker alphas and their mate. The rest of the betas and omegas didn't really have a hierarchy.

 

As the future leader with no one challenging him within the pack, and being quite handsome – he knew he was gorgeous, deal with it – Viktor knew he was lusted after. But that was just for a better position in the group, not because of an actual compatibility with him. In a very awkward conversation after he presented, Yakov had warned him that many potential mates would only seek to use him to get more power amongst the pack. Anya probably being the most obnoxious one of them. But he wasn't really attracted to females anyway.

 

Deciding he wasn't needed anywhere, Viktor climbed on the pile of rocks closest to the humans' gate, where Chris was usually napping. The alpha was slightly younger than Viktor and had become one of the most dominant of the pack. A few years before, he had tried to challenge Viktor's position and had failed rather spectacularly, finishing their thirty seconds fight head first into the pond and Viktor sporting the smuggest smile imaginable.

 

After that however, once their rivalry was settled and the order established, they grew more fond of each other and became close friends. Viktor discovered Chris had admired and envied him when he was younger while Chris realised Viktor wasn't as haughty and self-centreed as he first believed and even accepted to be teased as long as it was friendly. And tease, he did. Especially regarding the older alpha's everlasting abstinence. Chris was a lot freer than his friend with his affections.

 

The younger alpha's head perked up when Viktor settled next to him, on his back, with his hands under his head.

“Well look who it is ! Is His Highness finally done with his leading duties ?”

“Don't call me that, Chris ! I don't like it !” the older growled softly

“That, my dear, is precisely why I'm calling you that.”, the blond male chuckled, “But seriously, Yakov has been giving you a lot of work lately.”

“Yeah, I guess... He says it's to 'teach me the responsibility of a pack's leader'.” Viktor sighed, “But at least I got to see something interesting !”

“And what could that possibly be ?” Chris asked, ears twitching up with interest.

“The humans went to another 'raid' this morning, so maybe there'll be someone new soon !” he said happily

“Oooh, maybe it'll be a pretty one ! Wouldn't it be nice ? A cute little omega !” the blond almost purred

“Seriously ?! Is that the only thing you ever think about ?”

“What ? You're going to tell me that you didn't think about it ?”

Viktor blushed, swished his tail and refused to answer

“See ? If you weren't so picky you'd already be mated and have half a dozen pups running around !”

“It's not that simple.”, Viktor said with a whine, “Look at you for example, you always spend your rut with a different omega and yet, you've never sired a single pup !”

“At least I don't spend my ruts alone. I know you're lonely, Viktor. Everyone knows it ! Have you ever even smelled the scent of an omega in heat ?”

“Not from up close...”

“You should ! It's to die for ! And it's not like it would be hard for you. Nearly every unmated omega, and beta for that matter, of the pack wants you in their nest !”

“Chris...”. Viktor's scent was turning sour.

“What, it's true ! Face it Viktor, you're the future leading alpha, you're dominant, handsome, strong, _**and**_ you're hung like no one else here ! And yet, you just lay there, exposing your huge dick to everyone while you dream about finding a perfect match for the hopeless romantic that you are !”

Viktor was stunned by his friend's speech, but after a few seconds of silence, he started laughing and couldn't stop it.

“Stop laughing ! I'm trying to be serious here !”said Chris, stiffling his own laughter

“I'm sorry. But I didn't know you felt so strongly about this !”

“Of course I do !”

 

They both fell silent. In a way, Viktor was grateful to have a friend like Chris who would always tell him honestly what he thought. And true he longed for a mate so perfect he wasn't sure he would ever be satisfied. But there was another feeling that puzzled him whenever someone talked to him about finding a mate.

 

Something like worry ? No, stronger. Fear ? But fear of what ? He was scared by an angry Lilia. He was scared by the scentless human's stinging stick. But this was different. And confusing. How could he be scared of something that wasn't there ?

 

He briefly looked at the blond beside him but decided not to say anything. After all, even with his closest friend, he couldn't show the weakness that was the turmoil inside him. It wasn't fitting for a leading alpha.

 

Instead he just looked back to the plain before him and whispered :

 

“It's peaceful here.”

 


	4. Sunlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri wakes up to find himself in a completely unknown location.

The cold breeze of an early November morning ruffled Saverio's brown hair as he exited the park after his weekly cleaning of the pond. Since it had been created artificially, it had to be checked and cleaned regularly to avoid the spreading of any disease. He had seen Mila and Sara nearby, eating some of the apples he had brought in the day before, while exchanging little sounds like they were sharing the latest gossip.

 

While they couldn't form words the same way humans did, felises had a very wide range of little sounds they made to communicate with each other from mewls to purrs, whines to growls. They even had one that sounded like a small laugh or a chuckle, and a few other sounds weren't even audible for the human ear.

 

Saverio knew it was completely different from a person speaking. Scientists had never found anything resembling a speech pattern or the forming of words. But still, sometimes he could have sworn they were having a real conversation !

 

The felis keeper made his way back to the main building. On the visitor's side, a young boy and his father were observing the felises that were in the indoor enclosure. The glass ceiling was about four stories high above the ground which allowed a few trees to grow in the centre of the round shaped area. A huge glass wall on more than a third of the circle allowed visitors to admire the animals all along a large corridor leading to the outdoor area and then to an observation deck with a view over the sanctuary. The rest of the circle was mostly wooden walls with windows at the top. On the right of the visitor's corridor, there was a small door built like a tunnel which allowed the felises to freely go in and out of the building.

 

All of this occupied about half of the building, while the other half was not opened to the public. Behind the doors labelled “Staff only”, were the keeper's office with a small apartment in case he had to spend the night at the centre, the archives with all the documents from any felis that ever stepped there, many storage rooms including a cool-chamber, a garage with several vehicles to go around the sanctuary or transport animals, and the veterinary clinic.

 

The clinic itself extended into a few stalls and outdoor enclosures that could be opened or closed, enlarged or shrunk, to keep the injured or sick animals under surveillance. These enclosures also served as an adaptation space for the new felises that were to join the centre. There, they could be introduced progressively to a few members of the pack before being put into the sanctuary.

 

For now, all the outdoor enclosures were empty. So were the indoor stalls. All except one. As he had done for the last four days, Saverio walked to the one hosting his new protégé. He was expecting to find him still unconscious but as he stepped closer, he was welcomed by a menacing growl and a pair of brown eyes glaring at him from the farthest corner.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri woke up with a weird warm sensation on his face that hurt his eyes even though they were closed. He moved his head a bit and felt pain shooting through his back but at least his eyes didn't feel like they were burning anymore. The warm sensation was now on his neck and shoulders. It actually felt pretty nice like that. He knew that wouldn't last. Nice things only meant that pain was coming.

 

He was laying down. At least that was usual. But wait... Why is the ground... soft ?!

 

Yuuri's eyes shot open with fear as he took in his surroundings. It was another cell, with bars on one side, except there was wood on the other walls and above his head. And was that straw all around him ? He hadn't seen straw since... um... a very long time ago? He slowly tried to sit up and found that, strangely he... could ? It hurt in his back and arms but he could. Why ? How ? Weren't the … Oh ! The chains. No chains. Even as he looked around him, there weren't any chains anywhere. Well that was... weird.

 

Actually no, there were chains, he realised after further inspection. Just not like the usual chains. More like white-ish scratchy things wrapped around random places all over his body. But they weren't linked to anything. And some had brown-ish stains on them. He sniffed at one on his left arm. Oh wait, no, okay, that's blood, nevermind.

 

Yuuri's heart was beating very fast. This place was so weird and there was something that felt somewhat unusual about it. He just couldn't pinpoint what exactly. The corner looked a lot safer than the middle of the room, anyway. But as soon as he tried to move, he felt a searing pain from his right leg which was... stuck in a... stone ?! Was that a new Punishment ? The omega started to panic. What was this ? Where was he ? What was going on ? His breath got caught in his throat and he closed his eyes.

 

That's when he realised.

 

Light.

 

The world was dark with his eyes closed but when he opened them, it wasn't. He could see so many things. Where he was before, it was so dark he could barely see his feet. There was only light when the humans were there. It was a cold, scary and blinding white light. But here, he could see everything ! There was a hole in one of the walls, and that's where the light was coming from. And the warmth he had felt before, too.

 

The hole was too high for Yuuri to reach. All he could see was blue, so blue. He knew that blue. He'd seen it before. Sky. That's what it was ! It had disappeared when the humans took him, but he found it again ! And there was the sun too. That's where the warmth was coming from. The felis couldn't see it but he knew it was there. It seemed so incredibly... normal. And yet very weird and wonderful at the same time.

 

Yuuri stared and stared at that hole in the wall. He was so lost in his admiration that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching until they were very close. In a millisecond, all amazement was gone replaced by dread and fear. Ignoring the excruciating pain in his leg, he retreated as fast as he could to the corner furthest from where the sound came from.

 

A green human came into view. Usually, the humans that came were white, or black, or grey, or even dark blue. And he didn't smell the same at all. But it was still a human and humans meant danger and hurt. Without thinking, Yuuri started to growl at the new threat, and was a bit confused when it actually seemed to work. Wait, no, he's back ! And what's that in his hand ?

 

* * *

 

As soon as Saverio opened the stall with the dishes in his hand, the growls turned into plaintive whimpers, and as he turned back around after closing the door, he found the wounded felis cowering in his corner as if he wanted to make himself look smaller. He tried to coax him out with food but as soon as he took one step towards the omega, the poor thing laid himself on his back with a loud, terrified sob, head towards the wall and legs bending to put his knees to his chest.

 

“No ! No! Hey, it's okay buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you !”, the ranger said as soothingly as he could, “I'm just leaving this here for you to eat, I'm not gonna touch you. It's okay. You're fine.”

 

He put the empty dish under the water fountain, and the dish with food next to it. The felis's gaze was following his every movements.

 

“There, see ? I'm only putting this here, you have nothing to fear. Look. If you push here, water comes out. So you can drink. And eat. Okay ? That's good. I'm getting out, now. There, it's okay, it's alright. I'll come back later to see how you're doing, okay ? You're gonna be fine.”

 

After slowly getting out of the stall and closing the door, Saverio went back to his little office, took a deep breath and made himself a cup of coffee before switching on the surveillance camera that looked into the very box he was in minutes ago. Yuuri had curled up in a ball, still in his corner, with a little straw wall built around him. Clearly, the poor thing was terrified and absolutely not getting one millimetre closer to the food he had left.

 

Not to mention how he had reacted when Saverio tried to get closer. He must have been trained to put himself in this position designed to draw attention to... err, well, to his rear. It wasn't even the natural way omegas presented in front of their alphas during their heat. This position had been specifically pushed into his brain until it became a reflex, just to please the men who paid for it. Seriously, what kind of sick psycho would fuck a felis ?!

 

Keeping his eyes on the computer screen, he dialled the veterinarian's number.

 

“Kamil ? Hey, it's Saverio. Listen, our little guest just woke up, and I don't think he's doing great. … No, it doesn't look like he's in pain, at least not more than you'd expect, but I tried to give him the food you told me and he looked like he was gonna have a heart attack. … Yeah, I've got him on the camera, but I'd rather wait until you're here to see what we can do. … He hasn't touched it for now. … Okay. …. Right, when do you think you can get here ? … Half an hour ? No that's good, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him. … Yeah, thanks. See you later !”

 

The keeper put his phone back in his pocket. He needed another cup of coffee.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri was freaking out. As soon as the green human had opened his cave and gotten in, he had known he was going to get hurt. Why, just why did he growl ? So stupid ! Of course he was going to be punished. The human started talking and Yuuri put himself on his back, like the humans expected him to. It was terribly uncomfortable and he felt so vulnerable exposing his butt like that, but it had become a reflex. Usually, when he did that, his Punishment wouldn't be as hard.

 

He knew what was going to happen : the human would grab him and hit his face or his belly with his fist for growling, and then he's be slammed on the floor, and the human would mate him and leave his seeds in him, even though he instinctively knew he could only carry an alpha's pups, and it wouldn't even hurt anymore. It did once, it burned and stung and stretched too much it ripped and made him bleed. He learnt that mating was painful and meant to hurt him. But progressively, it stopped hurting as much, and now, Yuuri just didn't feel anything anymore, but he hated it nonetheless.

 

He waited and waited and... nothing happened. The human was still talking softly, and it sounded so different from what he usually heard. The omega opened his eyes and realized the human had barely moved. He was putting the stuff he had in his hands on the floor. Was that... food ? It kinda smelled like it. But better. The human then touched a thing on the wall, and water came out. And then he got up and left. Just like that, he was gone. What ?

 

What the hell was that ? Wasn't he supposed to hurt him ? What did this mean ? Yuuri looked at the food and water and just then realized he was hungry. And thirsty. Very thirsty. Well that, at least, was normal, wanting food and water. What wasn't normal was getting them, just like that. And it smelled good too, well better than usual at least.

 

But wait. No. That wasn't right. Good things meant bigger Punishment. Good things meant pain. This was a trap, so they could hurt him even more. The food would hurt him, and the water would hurt him, he just knew it. They had done this before, tempted him with good things only to put them too far from him, or to punish him when he touched it.

 

So he wouldn't touch it, and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't get punished. But he didn't know anymore, that human was acting weird, not touching him and not hitting him. What was he supposed to expect ? So he curled himself up in his corner, far away from the dangerous food, and pushed away the straw that was under him, until he could feel the hard cold floor under him. There, he got everything nice away from him.

 

He tried to breathe but found it was hard, his heart felt like it was going to get out of his chest, he was sweating and felt cold and his whole body hurt, especially his leg. He decided not moving was his safest option, as he stared at the light on the floor before him that came from the hole in the wall above him, and he tried to stop the small sobs and whimpers that escaped his throat.

 

* * *

 

“See ? Right there. And he hasn't moved since I called you.” Saverio said, pointing at the computer screen.

 

“He hasn't eaten anything ?” Kamil asked with a frown.

 

“Not a bite.”

 

The both of them stayed silent for a moment as the veterinarian weighed his options. It was the first time the raven omega had woken up since he was brought in five days earlier. After examining the felis more thoroughly, he had cleaned him from all the dirt and fleas, disinfected and bandaged all of his wounds, and put a cast on his broken leg. Yuuri had been kept in observation all night in the clinic, then placed, still unconscious, in a more comfortable stall the next morning.

 

Saverio would check on the omega regularly and Kamil came by everyday to change bandages and inject him with medicine and all the nutrients he needed to grow his strength back. They also took the opportunity to put a chip in his arm, like all of the centre's felises, which enabled them to trace the animals in the park, or if they ever were stolen.

 

Saverio was the one to break the silence: “Can't you give him another injection ? I mean, if he's not gonna eat...”

 

“I'd rather not. He's already had a lot of injections and he still has the medicine. I'd like him to start eating naturally, on his own, again as soon as possible. Besides, if he reacts the way you described, it's probably best to keep his interactions with us to a bare minimum. At least for now.”, the doctor reasoned. “But it's still an option if he really won't eat.”

 

“We could try to find out which food they used to give him in Japan and tempt him with something he's more familiar with than what we gave him.” the keeper suggested.

 

“The problem is, he's been malnourished for so long that we can only give him very small quantites at a time. We'll increase his intake progressively. And in his state, I think it's best to avoid solid food he has to chew for now. It would be too much of a strain on his digestive system which already has to get used to feeding regularly again.”

 

“He's massively underweight for an adult male. Even for an omega. It's going to take time.”

 

“Well, actually, if we manage to get him to eat what you gave him earlier, he should gain weight quickly. This type of food has a very high nutritional value to compensate for the small quantity.” Kamil explained. “Has he touched his bandages or tried to scratch himself ?”

 

“No, not at all”

 

“That's weird...”

 

“What's weird ?”

 

“Well, I don't think he's seen a bandage for awhile, and usually most animals who are not used to them would try to get it off of them. So, though it's better for the healing of his wounds that he doesn't touch them, I'm afraid it's only another sign of how badly he was treated.”

 

“The lack of reaction ? Yeah, I suppose. They would have trained him to let anything happen without defending himself.”

 

“Most likely.”

 

“But he did react when I got in !” Saverio reminded the veterinarian, “He was in the middle, staring at the window and I thought he wouldn't be able to move because of his leg.”

 

“He shouldn't have been able to, not without pain at least. Even with the cast, his leg is still broken. Any kind of effort or strain should be very painful.”

 

“He looked terrified enough to ignore it. It's like he thought I was going to kill him !”

 

“Then it's best if we don't get near him for the moment, because if he tries to flee each time he sees one of us, his leg will never heal properly.” Kamil decided. “We've got to find a way to get him to eat without getting close to him.”

 

Once again, silence filled the room while the two men stared at the motionless being on the surveillance screen.

 

“What if... It's... I mean, it could be stupid but....” Saverio begun.

 

“Hm ?”

 

“Well, I know usually we wait a little longer with the rescued ones, but... What if we put other felises with him ?” suggested the ranger.

 

“You mean in the stall ?”

 

“Yes. Clearly we can't put him in the sanctuary yet, and with the whole pack it would be too much.”, Saverio conceded, “But if it were just one or two, don't you think it could help him, being surrounded by individuals with normal behaviours ? If he could mimic them, maybe ?”

 

“But it could also backfire and traumatize him even more.” the young veterinarian pointed out.

 

“Right. But we could keep them separated by bars first, we did that a few times before. That way, they can see and smell each other but they can't attack one another.”

 

“I don't know. You said you've tried it before ?”

 

“Yes, though not with a felis so... well, in his condition. But we have to try something anyway !”

 

“I guess, but we have to be really careful who we put with him. Since you suggested it, I suppose you already have an idea about that.” the young doctor guessed.

 

“Don't worry, I think I've got just what we need !”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter : Yuuri finally meets someone new !  
> Can you guess who it is ?


	5. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri takes the first step toward recovery, but he doesn't take it alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is so late, I had a hard time time writing this chapter because I wasn't sure how I wanted it to go !
> 
> And thank you for all your comments, I loved seeing all your theories. Some of them were really spot on !

“He's been asleep for awhile now, do you think he's dead ? He doesn't smell like he's dead.”

 

“Let him rest. I don't know who he is, but the poor thing's clearly been hurt.”

 

Yuuri kept his eyes closed. He'd fallen asleep, apparently, still in the corner of his new cell, and had just woken up. Immediately he detected that there were two others close to him. He could hear and smell them but not see them. Two betas, healthy, relaxed, one clearly more curious than the other. The first one he heard sounded young and excited, barely an adult. The other sounded older and calm. He didn't know how far from him they were exactly but the young omega didn't dare open his eyes and chose to pretend he was still asleep. Maybe they would leave and he'd be safe.

 

“Why don't you go and train for hunting. Try to catch a bird or something.” said the older one.

 

“But...”

 

“No buts, I'll stay here watching over him, you go and train for a while.”

 

“...Yes sir.”, the younger one sighed defeatedly.

 

Yuuri didn't know where or how he left, but it was only him and the older beta now.

 

“You can stop pretending.”

 

Yuuri stopped breathing.

 

“I know you're awake. Your breathing isn't steady and you're all tensed up.” the beta chuckled. “Come on, open your eyes.”

 

After a long, somewhat awkward pause, Yuuri tentatively opened one eye.

 

“Well, hello there ! Oh, I can smell the fear on you, you don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to eat you !” the older beta continued, soft amusement in his voice.

 

He seemed to be sitting at a reasonable distance from the raven omega, and didn't show any sign of moving closer. Yuuri opened his second eye. He sat up a bit and looked around him. One of the walls that had been made of wood yesterday was now a line of bars, from floor to ceiling, which separated his cell from another slightly bigger one. And which also separated him from the large green eyed beta that was smiling encouragingly at him. He had a long greyish brown hair and a large tail of the same colour.

 

Though the stranger was much bigger than Yuuri, his scent was reassuring, creating a comfortable atmosphere that Yuuri had not experienced in a long while. He kept his eyes on the young omega, but gave him time to gauge his surroundings, choosing to let him speak first.

 

Progressively, Yuuri relaxed a little. He still had these weird white things wrapped around his body, and his leg still hurt, stuck in this strange-looking stone, but there was nothing new. The food the green human had brought was still there too. But the human itself was nowhere to be seen. He looked back towards the other cell where the beta was still watching him expectantly. Yuuri gulped.

 

“Um... I...Who... Who are you ?” he finally managed to whisper.

 

The other smiled brightly and answered with a loud, cheerful voice : “My name is Celestino ! But Phichit prefers to call me Ciao-ciao !”

 

* * *

 

It hadn't taken long for Saverio, Kamil and the rest of the Epsilon staff to agree on which felises would be the best option to help little Yuuri. Obviously, an alpha was out of the question since their reaction to an unknown omega was very unpredictable. Besides, they didn't know what Yuuri's own reaction would be, if he had been confronted with alphas during his captivity or not, and they couldn't take the risk. The last thing they needed was a new source of panic for the wounded omega.

 

They considered using Yuuko. Though they hadn't heard back from the Japanese centre yet, it was very likely that she and Takeshi had been part of the same pack as Yuuri before they were transferred to this sanctuary. Having felises the young omega already knew was certainly a bonus, and their calm temperament, especially Yuuko's nurturing nature, would be perfect. Unfortunately, with three still very young pups, it could be traumatising for the little family, and even dangerous, to be either moved or separated.

 

Overall, they agreed it would be best to introduce a beta rather than an omega, the former's pheromones being much more neutral most of the time. In the end, Saverio's original suggestion seemed like the best one.

 

Celestino was one of the oldest members of the pack. He had been transferred from an Italian rescue centre about ten years ago, after he was found in a black market network that was being dismantled. Though it probably hadn't been as bad as what Yuuri seemed to have been through, it still had taken time for the green-eyed beta to recover.

 

Nowadays, he was often found a little apart from the pack but never too far, and nearly always accompanied by Phichit, a lively young beta who had arrived from Thailand as a pup, probably also coming from the black market but his origins were unclear. Somehow, Celestino had taken the cheerful and curious young felis, which had fortunately never shown any sign of trauma, under his wing. And despite having presented three years ago, Phichit seemed to prefer staying in the same nest as his father-figure for the time being.

 

Having the two betas around Yuuri would recreate a pack-like situation which was more natural for this species, and would, hopefully, help the wounded omega to readjust to a normal behaviour.

 

The two stalls next to the one Yuuri was in were joined together by removing the wooden panels and the bars in between them to create a larger space to hold the two felises. This stall had an access to an outside enclosure from which you could see the sanctuary's entrance. Then, they also removed the wooden panel between the new larger stall and Yuuri's, leaving the bars for now.

 

After two hours of locating the two betas and trying to capture them, they were finally brought inside the building. They had quickly noticed the presence of another felis next to them and had reacted with curiosity and not aggression which was a _very_ good sign for the future. Of course the centre's rangers, especially Saverio, were keeping an eye on them and were ready to intervene at any moment but for now, all they had to do was observe, and wait.

 

* * *

 

“N-Nice to... meet you.” Yuuri said softly, almost a whisper.

 

“Won't you tell me what your name is ?” Celestino asked.

 

“My name ?” Yuuri looked at the floor, as if looking for something. “My name... It's... It's...”

 

“Yes ?” the other proded.

 

Yuuri started to tear up. His name. _**His**_ name. Not _**A**_ name. Not a vile sound he had to answer to. Not an indication of pain and tears to come. Just his name. Just the first thing given to him. Just a sound that was so impossibly, so incredibly him. His identity.

 

No one had called him by his name since he was taken from his pack.

 

So he had kept it to himself. Burried it so safely that it was hard to dig it up. He had to hide it so no one would take it away. He felt a tear roll down his cheek.

 

“Y... Yu... Yuuri.” He whispered in complete amazement. “Yuuri. It's Yuuri.”

 

“Mm ?”

 

Celestino's voice brought Yuuri back to the present as he stared at the beta. Should he tell him ? Isn't that dangerous ? _But he gave me his_.

 

“My name is Yuuri.”

 

“Well nice to meet you too, Yuuri !”

 

* * *

 

That wasn't going so bad ! At first, the young omega in front of him had seemed absolutely paralysed by fear and Celestino had found himself disconcerted by his unusual behaviour. After a while however, comforting scent and reassuring words brought the little one out of his shell, little by little. Yuuri – for he now had a name - let him approach slowly until he reached the bars that separated them, even though the younger one visibly tensed after each step before forcing himself to relax.

 

“Aren't you going to come closer ?” the older beta inquired, still smiling reassuringly.

 

It was a bit surprising that the omega was still on the other side of his cell, and didn't show any sign of moving when it was clear Celestino could not advance any further. Once a first contact had been made and names had been given, it was expected they would smell each other. Not scent each other, of course, that was only between mates or family members. They would just share their personal scent to help remember and identify each other.

 

However, that required a certain obvious proximity : one's scent appeared more precise and detailed the closer you were to them. Therefore, even though Celestino had been able to smell Yuuri's fear from the start, it wasn't detailed enough to remember his identifying scent accurately on a first meeting. They had to be next to each other.

 

After a silent beat, Yuuri's confused and eyes widened in understanding, cheeks blushing in embarrassment. He traced the distance he had to cover with a weary look, be fore looking back to the beta facing him and nodding slowly – whether it was to himself or to Celestino, he wasn't sure. Apparently he had decided the older one was not a threat to him, still shielded behind the bars. He was about to move when -

 

“You're alive !!! I mean you're awake !!! You were sleeping for so long I thought you were dead but you're not dead obviously and I'm so relieved because if you were dead it would have been sad and I was outside because Ciao-Ciao told me to go catch a bird and I almost caught one and it was a big one too and I really wanted to catch it because I thought you might wake up to eat it with us but the stupid thing flew away and it's really hard to catch a bird anyway but then I was like “He's not gonna eat it if he's dead” so I thought I would come back and check if you were but you're not and that's so great and I'm so happy and I'm Phichit by the way and-”

 

“PHICHIT !” Celestino had to bark to put an end to the young beta's overly exited rant.

 

“What ? It's true, I...”

 

He stopped mi-sentence as a sour smell hit his nose from the other side of the bars and he turned back to see the stranger staring at him with wide eyes, ears flat against his head. Celestino sighed. “ _Just when we were making progress..._ ” he thought. Now Yuuri looked positively petrified as a small whimper escaped his throat.

 

“Yuuri, this is Phichit. He's a beta, like me. I've taken care of him since he was a pup. Please don't be afraid of him, I'm sure he didn't mean to scare you.”, then Celestino turned to the young one by his side and continued, “Phichit, this is Yuuri. He's _very_ shy.” He made sure to make that last sentence sound like a scolding, and clearly the message was heard.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri could still hear his heart beating erratically in his ears. He barely heard Celestino's voice, eyes fixated on the young black haired beta next to him, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He hadn't caught a word of that fast-paced speech, just trying to take in what was happening. He had been so surprised he hadn't even thought to run, simply freezing in place.

 

He looked at the cell's entrance, but no human had taken advantage of his distraction to come and hurt him. The bars also prevented this young beta to come near him. He had been running towards them but he was still on Celestino's side. Yuuri noticed that, from afar, these two had a similar scent, probably because they were often together. They didn't look alike though. Actually, the little one looked a lot more like himself than like Celestino.

 

“...to meet you.”. He realized the black haired beta was speaking to him. “I'm sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to. I... um...”.

 

“No... it's o-okay”, Yuuri heard himself answer softly, “I'm okay” he added, this time more for himself than for the other, who was sending him a sheepish look. He seemed both astonished and unsettled by the reaction he had caused. Yuuri suddenly found he felt disturbed by the younger one's apparent remorse.

 

“So, Yuuri, is it okay for you to come closer ?” Celestino's question interrupted Yuuri's thoughts.

 

“Oh, uh, yes, I can... I can try.”, he replied cautiously before he remembered his right leg still stuck in that weird stone. “Ah, but... my leg...” he tried to explain.

 

“Just don't put your weight on it.” the older beta advised him, “It would probably hurt.” He didn't seem to have noticed that there was a _stone_ around it. “Maybe try to push with your other leg and slid towards us.”

 

“ _Easier said than done..._ ”, Yuuri thought, “ _Or is he trying to make me hurt myself ?_ ”

 

“Take your time, don't hurt yourself.” Celestino encouraged him.

 

“Right... Focus !” the omega whispered to himself, too low for the other two to hear. “ _They're not going to hurt me, they're not going to hurt me, they're not..._ ”

 

Gathering his strength, he brought his left leg close to himself and pushed, supporting his weight on his arms and left hip. It wasn't comfortable, but it didn't hurt like it had when he ran from the green human before.

 

“ _Not gonna hurt me..._ ”

 

Inch by inch, he got closer to the bars and the two betas, dragging himself somewhat jerkingly on the floor, helped by the straw dispersed everywhere.

 

“ _Not gonna hurt..._ ”

 

He didn't realize he had reached the separation between the two cells until he heard Phichit's timid cheering and Celestino's happy voice saying something that sounded like “Congratulations !”. He had been lost in his head-space again and completely focused on his physical effort.

 

Sitting up he was met with a warm smile from the much bigger than him – he now realized, from up close -, greyish brown haired beta who let his scent grow as a sign of acceptance and welcome. He was old enough that he had a good control over his scenting glands, and was able to produce his personal scent without it being altered by his emotions. He had a mild, soothing scent like honey with a hint of something sharper like lemon. Yuuri let himself be enveloped by it. That was a smell he could trust.

 

It was weird, trusting something, someone. He hadn't known him for very long. He could be disappointed. He could be deceived. He could be betrayed. Would Celestino do that ? Before he could dwell longer on these worries, the oldest of the two beta turned to the other and enjoined Phichit to imitate him.

 

Phichit's scent was a lot less controlled and his emotions transpired a little. His personal scent was made like oranges and fresh grass. It was soft-tonned due to his beta nature, and Yuuri found it comforting and appeasing, even more so than Celestino's. But behind this was a hint of something Yuuri couldn't quite place. Like fear, but not exactly. He had been bathed in scents of fear for months and that wasn't the same. More like sadness. Shame ? And something hopeful ?

 

Oh... Was he still sorry about earlier, about scaring Yuuri ? True, he had been scared. Mainly surprised but also scared. Fear was his default reaction. But he wasn't scared now. At least, not of the little beta. To be honest Phichit looked mostly inoffensive. Mostly.

 

Yuuri noticed he had radically changed his attitude from when he first came barging in from “ _outside_ ”. Looking back on it, the young beta had seemed excited, joyful and very expressive but now, he was sitting awkwardly next to Celestino, shoulder tensed, looking shyly at Yuuri as if he were still saying sorry.

 

“ _We can't have that._ ” Yuuri thought out of nowhere. He realized he could not stand the thought of the other hurting or being scared because of him. Inexplicably, he felt protective of the little beta, who seemed so innocent. For the first time in many years, his omegan instincts weren't screaming at him to flee or submit to protect himself. Instead they were telling him to take care of another.

 

This time, the problem didn't come from an unknown overpowering force. It came from him, from his reaction, and he felt guilty about it. Phichit was hurting because of him. But unlike when the humans were hurting them, he wasn't helpless, despite this guilt. He could have power over the situation. He could do something about it. He had to do something about it. So he did the first thing that came to mind.

 

Yuuri smiled.

 

It was a small, uncertain smile but it was still encouraging, and he felt the worry disappear from Phichit's scent as the younger male smiled back at him.

 

“Your turn, now !” he exclaimed, genuine excitement back in his voice.

 

Yuuri turned to Celestino who was also looking at him expectantly. He knew he had to present them with his scent, it would be extremely rude to ignore it and if he was rude they wouldn't like him, and if they didn't like him they would turn on him and hurt him. Or worse, they would abandon him to the humans and _they_ would hurt him.

 

He closed his eyes in concentration, trying to push his basic scent out without any emotional pheromone interfering, but he hadn't done that in years, the humans being apparently insensitive to scents. He pushed and pushed, trying to remember what used to be an almost daily habit but the more he tried, the more he panicked, realizing abruptly how little control he now had over his scent. In a final attempt, he managed to let it grow a little, but he knew that most of his personal scent was covered by the smell of fear and panic. He opened his eyes when Phichit asked him, confused :

 

“Don't they restrain their emotional scent when they first meet, where you're from ?”

 

“I'm sorry... I just...”, he took a large breath as a tear rolled down his cheek, “I can't control it... anymore.”

 

“Oh, well, it's okay, don't worry ! Wait !”. As the young beta sniffed the air, his eyes grew wide and he continued, looking shocked, “You're an omega ?!”

 

“Y-yes ?”

 

“You didn't notice ?”, Celestino asked and, seeing Phichit shaking his head, he turned to Yuuri, “It is true that your omegan scent in very subdued, so from afar you could be mistaken as a beta.”

 

“I don't smell like an omega ?”

 

“A bit, but it's not very strong.”, the older beta answered, then quickly added, “It's not necessarily a bad thing !”

 

“To be honest, you mainly smell like fear.”, said Phichit, leaving Yuuri disappointed.

 

Celestino frowned and looked like he was about to say something, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, a loud growl resounded around them. Yuuri startled then blushed as he realized the sound was coming from his stomach.

 

“Ah, I'm sorry, I'm a little hungry.”

 

Phichit burst out laughing as Yuuri's stomach growled again. “Wow, that was impressive ! How long has it been since you've last eaten ? Three days ?”

 

“Honestly, I don't... I don't know...”

 

Phichit stopped laughing and frowned. “What do you mean you don't know ?”

 

“Well, I don't know how long I've been here.”

 

“And you haven't eaten since you arrived ?” Celestino asked.

 

“But you've got food right there !”, Phichit interrupted, pointing at the dish the green human had left, “Go and eat !”

 

“Oh, that ? No I... I can't eat that.”

 

“Why ?”

 

“It's dangerous ?”, Yuuri explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “It's human food.”

 

“Of course not, silly ! If it were for the humans, they would have eaten it !”

 

“Why do you think it's dangerous ?” Celestino inquired.

 

“You can't eat food the humans give you, if you haven't been punished first. It... It's gonna hurt otherwise” Yuuri answered, trembling.

 

“... What ?” Phichit said, extremely confused, but before he could say more, Celestino turned to him.

 

“Phichit, bring our food here.”

 

“What ?”

 

“You heard me.” As Phichit went to fetch one of their own dishes, Celestino looked back to Yuuri, “You can't stay hungry, it's not good. You've got to eat.”

 

“I can't take your food !”, Yuuri said, alarmed, “What are you going to eat ?”

 

“Oh don't worry, there's enough for us. And besides, we're not hurt.”

 

“But...”

 

“No buts !”

 

Phichit came back with the dish, but the three of them quickly realized they wouldn't be able to get it, or their heads, through the bars. So, after much insistence from the two betas, Yuuri slowly moved a few meters to his left to bring his own ration close to the two others. He saw that, in the meantime, Phichit had gone to fetch his own and he felt a little bit more comfortable. Sharing a meal was a familial behaviour reserved for the closest members of a pack. Every moment that passed, he felt more at ease with his new companions.

 

While Celestino and Phichit started to eat their own food without a second thought, Yuuri still hesitated. He wanted to trust the two betas but he was so scared of the pain that could be awaiting him, especially since it seemed his food was a bit different from theirs. It didn't smell exactly the same.

 

“What if we taste a bit of yours, so you'll see there is nothing to fear ?” Celestino suggested when he was finished.

 

“But... what if you get hurt ? Then it'll be my fault and- No, wait !”

 

Before he could finish his panicked sentence, the older beta had reached with his hand to grab a bit of Yuuri's ration and brought it to his mouth. Yuuri watched, too shocked to react, and didn't see the younger beta imitating his senior until he too had brought a bit to his mouth. Both swallowed and looked smugly at Yuuri who observed them as if they were about to explode in insufferable pain.

 

Nothing happened.

 

“See ? It's perfectly fine ! Now eat, you need it.” Celestino ordered.

 

Yuuri was still reluctant and weary of the food in front of him but he _was_ very hungry, and maybe, just maybe, if the two others didn't have any problem with it, it was fine. _But what if they were faking it ? No, they couldn't do that ! But what if- Shut up !_

 

The raven omega put his lips on the surface of the dish then quickly retreated, just tasting the mixture. It wasn't... too bad. And more importantly, it didn't hurt him, and nothing or nobody came to hit him. So he bent his head again and took a larger bite, swallowing it cautiously.

 

Then another.

 

And another.

 

Before he knew it, he had finished his small ration. Yuuri stared with wonder at his empty bowl, and then looked at Celestino, who was smiling at him.

 

“So ?” said the beta.

 

“I feel weird... but good. Can I... can I drink ?”

 

“Of course you can ! See that blue thing, where your food was ?” Phichit said. Yuuri nodded. “Push it with your nose, and you'll get water.”

 

And Yuuri did exactly that, completely unaware of the improvised celebration taking place in the keeper's control room.

 

* * *

 

_Hands on his body and screams of terror. Completely surrounded by darkness, trying to run. His legs refusing to obey him. Fee_ _l_ _ing something choking him. The more he tried to wrestle, the more he felt unable to breathe. Can't escape. Can't breathe. Can't-_

 

Yuuri woke up with a start and a loud whimper. His lungs were screaming at him and he was covered in sweat, tears staining his cheeks. “ _Where am I ? What happened ?_ _Am I being punished ?”._ Quickly, he tried to remember what he did wrong. The two betas, they convinced him to eat, to drink, he should have known ! And the straw ! They persuaded him to keep it under him to sleep. “ _Stupid ! You know what happens when you get something good !_ ”

 

An unusual smell interrupted his panicked thoughts. Though not very strong, it was comforting enough that he held onto like an anchor until he slowly started to breathe again. Panting and staring with wide eyes at the ceiling, he realized what that scent was and turned his head.

 

“Are you okay ?” Celestino whispered, trying not to wake the younger beta next to him, who had somehow managed to stay asleep.

 

“Hm...”, Yuuri nodded weakly, “Thank you. ...I'm sorry.”

 

“You should stop apologizing for everything.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Celestino sighed and Yuuri thought he would go back to sleep, but he kept his eyes on the young omega. His mouth opened a few times, seemingly searching for the right words.

 

“Yuuri, you... Before you came here, you were... you were in the Dark Rooms, right ?”

 

Yuuri took a sharp breath, as if the simple mention of them could send him back. “How do you know ?”

 

“ _ **Because I came from there too.**_ ”

 

 


	6. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri slowly recovers, with the help of Phichit and Celestino, and gets a taste of his future.

Yuuri stirred when a ray of sunshine landed on his nose. As he tried to stretch his stiff limbs as best as he could he became aware of a rumbling vibration on his side. Suddenly waking up completely, he nearly got a whiplash with how fast he turned his head towards the unfamiliar sensation, adrenaline pulsing in his veins.

 

First he saw the pointy ears and straight black fur, then the drooling face and the smaller body curled up against him in the straw. Phichit’s ears twitched in what seemed to be a very happy dream as his purring continued. Yuuri felt himself relaxing again and remained still, not wanting to wake the younger male. It had been a while since he had been in any physical contact with another felis. That felt nice, like how members of the same pack would comfort each other.

 

Getting his head up, Yuuri realised the bars separating him from the other cage had disappeared during the night, which explained how Phichit got access to his makeshift straw nest. Somehow, he wasn’t frightened by this. He hadn’t felt that rested in months, if not years and he enjoyed the two other betas’ presence. He trusted them, despite not having known them for very long, and having Phichit sleeping and purring next to him soothed something within him that was beyond his comprehension. All he knew was that it felt safe, like a pack would, and that was good enough.

 

One of the wooden walls was open and Yuuri could smell Celestino’s presence in that direction. There didn’t seem to be any ceiling on the other side and the ground was made of green little- _Is that grass ?_ The outside seemed so foreign to the omega, he barely remembered what it felt like. “ _It would be nice to go back there I suppose”_ Yuuri thought. After all, if Celestino could go outside after coming from the Dark Rooms, maybe he could too.

 

As the stared at the promising bit of grass that was still so far from him, his thoughts went back to what the older beta had told him the night before. _I came from there too._ He told Yuuri about how he had ended up in a Dark Room after being separated from his pack many winters ago. He was beaten by many different humans who would sometimes take him outside and let him go before hunting him down with large noisy sticks and capturing him again.

 

They had, however, never tried to mount him like they did Yuuri and he was baffled when the omega told him about it. It hadn’t been easy for Yuuri to tell the older beta what had been done to him since he barely knew himself, beside the fact that it had hurt all the time. He didn’t want to bring the memories back, just in case it would bring the hurt back too, but knowing Celestino could somewhat sympathize with him made him feel a little better.

 

Celestino had been nothing but kind to him since the previous day, his scent carried no aggression or fear, and he and Phichit seemed to form a mini-pack that they had welcomed the omega in. Yuuri saw the older beta like a mentor that he trusted. He wanted to follow him so he too could rid his own scent of fear and go back outside.

 

* * *

 

Sitting at his desk with his irreplaceable after-lunch cup of coffee -all his cups of coffee were irreplaceable-, Saverio went over all he had to do in the afternoon : mostly a lot of phone calls and paperwork for the next supply and food delivery the primate department of the centre would get next week. He also had to finalize little Yuuri’s official transfer to the Epsilon centre.

 

After Yuuri’s rescue, Saverio had managed to contact the Japanese centre the felis had been kidnapped from thanks to the information the police gave him. They were excessively relieved to hear he was now in good hands but refused to take him back. The keeper Saverio talked with explained their zoo was in a very difficult financial situation mainly because they had to install a tight security system after Yuuri’s disappearance but the maintenance was proving itself difficult for their small establishment.

 

Felises are a very expensive species to take care of could easily become a financial burden. It wasn’t official yet but the Japanese man admitted the zoo was actually going to close its felis enclosure in the upcoming months. After realizing they wouldn’t be able to keep providing the animals with good enough conditions, their team had decided to apply for the transfer of all their felises to other sanctuaries that could properly take care of them. Their keeper was broken-hearted, of course, but it was the best solution both for the zoo and the animals.

 

And thus it was decided that Yuuri would stay here. Of course Saverio would stay in contact with the Japanese zoo when they would officially search for new homes for their felises, but he was a bit relieved the little omega would stay with them. He had grown fond of him and couldn’t wait to see him in the actual sanctuary.

 

Ever since they had put Celestino and Phichit with him, the rescued omega had been improving steadily. He ate and slept with the two others and was on the right track to get back to a normal weight. His bandages were gone and he moved a lot better despite still having to bear with his cast for another week or so. He had slowly started to show hints of a playful and curious personality behind all the fear and trauma.

 

Humans still visibly terrified him though, and Saverio wasn’t sure he could ever improve on that. While speaking with his Japanese counterpart, he was told that the animals there had very limited contact with their keepers in hope of keeping their behaviour as natural as possible. Therefore Yuuri had almost never seen a human as something else than a threat.

 

On the other hand, his instincts to form a pack with the two betas and to care for little Phichit were encouraging, especially for an omega. He didn’t seem to have any problems living in a group. They would have to take a few precautions but if everything went well, Saverio hoped all three felises could be released before the start of the winter hibernation at the end of December.

 

As he got up to put his cup in the sink, Saverio remembered he also had to call his colleague in Sweden to ask if the transfer from Australia had gone well. One of the Australian centres had been having problems with a rescued alpha that was a bit violent. They had difficulties to integrate him in a pack and had decided to see if a change of environment would help. He was being sent toa sanctuary in Sweden but he first had to stop in Barcelona for a veterinarian check-up since the Swedish sanctuary didn’t belong to the same company.

 

There were no major incident during the alpha’s overnight stay in the facility two nights ago, since the felis had been sedated during the long flight from Australia and had very slow reactions, but even the small amount of aggression he displayed when his cage passed in front of Yuuri, Phichit and Celestino’s enclosure was worrying considering none of the three were alphas, it was no wonder it was hard to find him a pack.

 

* * *

 

“Ciao-ciao ! I almost caught that bird again !”

 

“That’s great Phichit, congratulations.”, the older beta’s bored voice answered from where he was laying on the grass.

 

To be fair, Phichit was getting bored too, there wasn’t much to do here. There wasn’t a lot of space to run and hunt like he wanted to and it was weird being away from the pack. They probably weren’t far since he could sort of smell the group, but he couldn’t hear or see them and he didn’t know how to reach them.

 

They had been here for almost an entire moon cycle now and it was getting colder and colder each day. Soon it would be time to travel deep into the forest, where Celestino and him had their winter den, for the long sleep. Yuuri would come with them this time and maybe they could build a bigger nest to keep each other warm ! But how to reach the den from here ?

Celestino too was felling the same uneasiness more and more and it showed in his scent. The older felis became the de facto leader of their little trio but it didn’t feel right. Being two betas and an omega away from their territory, the protection of the group and the pack alpha was unsettling. What if another alpha came to claim their territory ? That almost happened some days ago !

 

It had been scary, Phichit had never heard an alpha growl like that. Even when a newly-presented JJ had tried to challenge Viktor, the silver alpha had not responded with such an aggressive sound ! The humans had quickly taken the unknown alpha away but he still had time to violently try to assert his dominance by growling and posturing and stinking up the whole place with his scent.

 

It had been mostly aimed towards Yuuri. The fear had been disappearing from his scent as he recovered, making his omegan scent more prominent. A submissive, unmated omega, seemingly pack-less since Celestino and Phichit’s beta scents weren’t good enough protection, it was all too tempting for an almost feral alpha. Thankfully, Yuuri had been nothing but repulsed by the sourness of his scent and had hissed at the alpha who dared to scare his new friend.

 

It was after this incident that Phichit really started to sleep in the little nest Yuuri had managed to build in one of the corners of the human-made cave, instead of just coming to cuddle with him in the morning. He hadn’t even thought about it but it was the first time since he could remember that he didn’t sleep next to Ciao-ciao.

 

Phichit had been encouraging Yuuri to go outside so he could have someone to play with other than that stupid bird. He hadn’t been very successful, the omega only taking a few steps outside before retreating back inside like the grass had burnt his paws. Most of the time, he would lay down at the entrance of the human cave, only putting his front paws out and toying with the leaves under it, watching every detail of the outside world.

 

What confused the younger beta the most, however, was Yuuri’s absolute fear of humans. He hid in his nest as best as he could every time one of them came close. He even tried to shield Phichit from them a few times. For some reason, he seemed to be convinced they were a danger, when all they bring is food. And sometimes pets.

 

There’s that one human with the stick that throws pointy things very far who’s a bit shady maybe. He used it on Yuuri the other day but clearly it didn’t really hurt : he fell asleep right after ! He was taken away for awhile after that, and when he was brought back, the stone on his leg had disappeared ! That was a very weird day, in Phichit’s opinion.

 

Ciao-ciao didn’t seem really phased by it. He said Yuuri was scared because of what happened to him in the Dark Rooms, but he didn’t explain exactly what they were. Phichit had heard about them before, he had been told he came from there but he didn’t remember it, he had been too young to have any memories of them.

 

A loud noise caught Phichit’s attention and he saw Yuuri escape out of sight towards his nest. It was probably the usual human, and the little beta quickly heard the sound of the opening wall again when he left. Celestino started to head back inside, Phichit on his heels but both betas stopped dead in their tracks when a mix of familiar smells coming from the human cave reached their noses. _Pack._

 

Phichit ran inside, excited at the idea to be reunited with the members of his pack, only to stumble to a stop, crushed with a mix of confusion and disappointment when he reached the entrance. _What the hell is that ?_

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t a very usual procedure, some might even call it controversial. Scents were a pillar of felis interactions and socialization, and tampering with them could have disastrous results. The delicate balance of pheromones the primates used to communicate were imperceptible for a human being and though there were extensive research on the matter, they only had a basic understanding of the scents’ complexity and how deep their influence on a felis’s behaviour ran.

 

However, they weren’t in a very usual situation either. With all the trauma he had been through, and though there were no issues with Phichit and Celestino, it was almost impossible to predict Yuuri’s reaction when the three of them would be released in the sanctuary. Omegas were instinctively submissive so they usually had no problem fitting in to a new pack but Yuuri had been locked up for several years, was easily frightened and could have unpredictable reactions, had just recovered from many serious injuries and had never lived in such a large pack.

 

Phichit and Celestino couldn’t remain isolated for much longer and needed to be back on their territory. Saverio wanted to be able to place the three felises in the sanctuary just at the beginning of hibernation so they would meet as few other felises as possible. This would appease the betas’ anxiousness while giving Yuuri a calm transition period. After discussing it with Kamil, the veterinarian gave his green light.

 

All that was left to do was trying to anticipate Yuuri’s reactions and attempt to lower his stress level by exposing him to the scents of the other pack members. That was only done in the breeding program sometimes, when trying to find compatible alphas and omegas. Saverio doubted they would have any results of that sort here however : Kamil had warned him Yuuri’s fertility and mating instincts had probably been affected by the abuse.

 

In Yuuri’s case, Saverio wasn’t worried about the omega reacting aggressively to one of the scents, he just wanted to give him time to process all this new information so his release would be as smooth as possible. The keeper had a rubbed a cloth on each of the felises he could come close to to get their scent. Then he had dropped all the cloths haphazardly on the ground in the stall around where Yuuri had built his little bed, went back to his office and observed from there.

 

* * *

 

“ _What is going on ?! What is that ?!_ ” Yuuri couldn’t hear anything other than the loud beating of his heart at first. Only when he saw Phichit and Celestino run inside did he manage to calm down a little. He tried to take a deep breath but his nose was assaulted by a wave of scents from many alphas, betas and omegas alike. It was overwhelming, he couldn’t discern anything. The human had left piles of fur-like large leaves like the one they had on them. Were these where the scents came from ?

 

He saw Phichit and Celestino slowly going from one pile to another. They seemed equally perplexed and confused but not scared no… they were… happy ? Yuuri couldn’t discern their scents well in the middle of all the others but there was one thing they all had in common : _Pack_.

 

“These are the scents of members of our pack, but they’re not here. I don’t understand...”, Phichit said as Yuuri joined them after they had made sure none of the piles were dangerous.

 

“Humans are weird.”, Celestino just shrugged and went to lie down on the side, clearly not phased by the situation beyond the initial surprise.

 

Yuuri had gotten whiffs of the overall scent of the pack before, when he put his head outside. His two companions had explain it was somewhere around here, but they couldn’t reach it. Progressively, the omega’s nose was getting used to the onslaught of smells, and was getting curious. He trusted the two betas who were neither stressed nor scared, and it had been so long since he had been n contact with many scents at once.

 

Slowly, Yuuri approached the piles, one by one, examining each scents as he instinctively tried to gather as much information as he could from them. Phichit was running around, coming back towards him from time to time, telling him so many names Yuuri couldn’t memorize them. He was struck by one of the first scents he got to. It was a strong, dominant scent, not very pleasant but grounding and calming. It was clearly the head alpha.

 

A few piles later, he found two scents that seemed oddly familiar. They were both mixed together and it was like going back into his parents’ den, surrounded by his family’s pack. The familiar scents were laden with the smell of young pups and he couldn’t exactly remember whose scents they were. Overwhelmed by all the information he had to digest, Yuuri walked away towards the next scented spot.

 

The omega finally reached the last one. Phichit started telling him something but his voice was completely lost to Yuuri as he put his nose in the pile of scented furs and inhaled. He felt himself relaxing, his eyes closing as a quiet purr made its way through his chest for the first time in many winters. He inhaled again. **_Oh, that’s… wow..._**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise : I'm still here ! I haven't updated in a year. I guess you could call it writer's block, I wasn't sure where to go with the story. I still don't have it all planned out yet, but I have a few ideas. Let me know what you think !

**Author's Note:**

> As I mentioned before, this is my first fanfiction, also English isn't my first language, so if you see any mistakes or improvements that could be made, feel free to tell me. I'm always open to constructive criticism !
> 
> And of course, please tell me if you enjoyed reading !


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